


I Need You Like a Heart Needs a Beat

by brahe



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: I Don't Even Know, M/M, Relationship Development, The Glade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3372677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brahe/pseuds/brahe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Take another chance, take a fall, take a shot for you<br/>And I need you like a heart needs a beat, but it's nothing new.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Need You Like a Heart Needs a Beat

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the OneRepublic song Apologize.

It wasn’t healthy, the way Thomas relied on Newt. There were other people he was close with, sure, but it wasn’t like this. Their relationship was like a lifeline, keeping Thomas _here_  when he so desperately wanted to fade away. And wasn’t that funny, because Newt needed someone to ground him so much more than Thomas did. But when it came to him, Thomas let himself be selfish, for he had no idea how long they had.

  
Sometimes it scared him, what he was willing to do for Newt. Sure, he was devoted and driven to find a way out of the Maze for all the Gladers stuck there, but it was different with Newt. Thomas felt like it owed to to the Gladers to get them out. To Newt, though, it was a way to save him. He heard through the whispers of the other boys about how Newt got his limp, and it created a hatred for the Maze and those who put them there more than anything. Thomas made it his mission to get Newt out before he tried anything like that again, because he was too important to them, to him, to lose.

  
They talked about it one night by the embers of the bonfire. It had started with an admission of feelings and turned into a confession of importance. Thomas told Newt that he needed him like he needed air, like he needed a heartbeat, and for a moment he thought he'd gone too far when Newt didn't respond. But then Newt was hugging him tightly and shaking and _crying_ , Thomas realized, as tears dampened his shirt. He held Newt to his chest, wrapping secure arms around him and whispering pointless phrases into his hair in an effort to calm him down. When his shoulders stopped shuddering, Newt whispered to Thomas that he was the most important thing to him, and that he made him feel safe. Thomas held him tighter and they feel asleep together by the ashes.

  
Their relationship developed into a system of heavy reliance, and Thomas figured he shouldn't put so much on one person but it worked for them. Newt came to him with emotions and dangerous thoughts and Thomas went to Newt with insecurities and guilt. Alby mentioned something to Newt in passing about not getting too close to someone in a place like this because you never know, but it fell on deaf ears. Newt knew it was too late for him to back out of it now. Thomas had become a part of him, as strange at that sounded. Minho commented to Thomas during a run that Newt was fragile and there'd be hell to pay if something happened. Thomas almost wanted to laugh at that because he was too invested in Newt's wellbeing to hurt him.

  
They worked in tandem, finely tuned to understanding each other and comforting one another. Thomas thought it was rare, what they had. He had a fragment of a memory of a quote how it's not about willing to die for someone, but finding the right person to die for, and it fit. Newt was worth it all, and Thomas would do everything in his power to keep the blond  by his side, and he had no doubt Newt would do the same; he'd proved it before. Thomas only hoped there'd always be something he could do.


End file.
